On the Other Side of the Dirt Road
by ducky48
Summary: It's the early 1900's. Little Abby Scuito was left out alone on the streets after her parents died. Hungry and looking for a change from the streets of the city, she wandered out to the countryside. There she met Gibbs, whom she instantly took a liking to. He was kind and when he realized that she was alone in the world, he brought her home with him, to his wife and his four kids.
1. Prologue

**Hello! I think this story is going to be four chapters, although the first one is just a prologue.**

 **Hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 1 – Prologue

Abby looked down on her dirty over-used shoes. She thought she saw something shiny on the ground, hopefully a coin, but it was only in her imagination as usual. Her mind always seemed to trick her when she was hungry. Sighing, she looked up again. The small stores that surrounded the square looked warm and nice and felt like a million lives away. Even when her parents were alive, Abby rarely got to look in those stores. Her parents had not been in any way wealthy. Actually, they barley got by. Now, as an orphan living on the streets, Abby hadn't been inside for what felt like ages. She was cold, hungry and covered in a layer of dirt. Her dress reached down over her knees but she had no socks. Her long cardigan, with the red patches on the elbows, was old and battered. Thankfully the weather was getting warmer by the day.

If you walked around the nice-smelling bakery and turned left, you'd find a grocery store. A small, dingy place that the richest people never went to. Sometimes, in the night right before it closed, the homeless could be lucky enough to receive a piece of bread that had gone bad. Not so bad that it was dangerous to eat, just too old to be sold in the store. Abby knew it was way too early in the day, but she was really hungry and decided to go see if the owner had anything. Carefully she opened the door. It was pretty much empty inside, save from an older couple by the counter. The owner of the store was watching them decide between meat and sausage, while putting more hard candy in a glass jar.

"I have nothing for you", he called as he noticed Abby.

Abby frowned but stayed inside. Maybe when the couple had paid and gone outside, he'd have time to really look if he had anything. The man sighed but let her be. The couple soon decided for sausage and was out the store a minute later.

"I really don't have anything", the owner said to Abby as the door closed.

"Nothing?" Abby asked as her stomach growled.

"Sorry, kid", the man said. "Too many have too little."

Abby's eyes flickered from the shelves of food to the door. She really didn't want to leave.

"I can't give you something from the shelves", the man said. "I'll go bankrupt in no time."

Abby still didn't leave. It was nice in here.

"You should go", the man said.

Abby hesitated but still didn't move. The owner was silent for a moment while he arranged some of the boxes. Then he sighed. He stepped out from behind the counter.

"Let me tell you something, kid", the man bent forward slightly.

Abby looked at him a little suspiciously but took a step closer to him.

"Leave the city", the man continued as he saw Abby's frown. "Go out to the countryside. The farmers are often more generous than the city-folks. With a little luck they'll give you a job in exchange for food."

"Really?" Abby looked up at him hopefully. She could work! She'd done it before.

"Really", the man confirmed and straightened up. "Now get out of here", he said louder.

Abby nodded. She turned around and was out the door in no time. The countryside. Farmers. It shouldn't be hard to get there. Would it? She knew from experience that the long city-road led right out of town. If she followed that, she'll most definitely find the farmers on the countryside like the man had said. Filled with determination, she started to walk. The city-road travelled right past the square so she found her way quickly.

Walking turned out to be boring and her feet hurt, but she continued. The houses became smaller and fewer, the road slimmed down and more trees and bushes graced the ground. Soon she could see fields of what looked like tall, light brown-ish grass straws, but also other interesting plants. It interested her and made her smile. Once in a while she had to stop and take a closer look at the beautiful flowers that grew in the ditch. They were in all kinds of colors, from the cleanest white to the strongest red. Abby had never seen anything like it in the city. Sure, there was the fabric store that she'd seen from the street, but these flowers were something else entirely. They were alive. They seemed to be breathing. The colors were real and natural.

As the night's darkness fell over the world, Abby sat down under a tree. She was tired and hungry, but she didn't dare to eat the small blue berries from the bush she'd passed by. Her mother had once told her not to eat if she didn't know what it was. Especially berries. There were so many poisonous ones that could kill a little girl like her.

Abby looked around to see if she could find anything else to eat. But now it was too dark to see the colors and even the shapes. She wouldn't be able to tell if anything was edible. So she curled up under the tree and watched as the leaves over her head disappeared slowly in the blackness.

Abby wasn't scared. She didn't think the dark was scary. In fact, she liked it. Silently, she let her eyelids fall close and a minute later, she was asleep.


	2. The Road

**Hello! Thank you so much for all the response to the first chapter.**

 **Hope you enjoy the second one!**

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Chapter 2 – The Road

Abby woke to the sound of birdsong. She opened her eyes slowly and peered up at the sun through the tree's branches and leaves. She lay there for a while, just enjoying the sunshine warming up her cold skin. For a couple of minutes she was at peace, but then the stubborn hunger came crawling back. Frowning, she sat up. She had to find something to eat.

She got to her feet but fell back to her knees when she realized that she'd stepped on a flower. It was a small, blue, delicate flower. The stalk had broken off from its roots. Abby picked it up carefully and put it in her pocket. Then she stood up again.

The road seemed to go on for eternity in both directions. The way she came from seemed longer than Abby remember it felt like walking. She looked around the fields and saw some hills but only a couple of houses in the distance. Or maybe they were farms! Anyway, there were no people in sight and the only movement she could see was the wind making the flowers and the leaves on the trees dance.

Abby felt like the only person in the world.

But wait! Abby scrunched up her face as she tried to make out what sound she was hearing. Whistling? Trees and hills don't whistle. And sure enough – a group of people appeared around one of the hills. Abby counted to three big people, two medium people and one smaller one, like her. They were sitting on two separate carriages, pulled by horses. Piles of something that looked like large dry grass straws covered the carriages and the big people sat in front of it, guiding the horses, while the two smaller people lay on their backs on top of the pile in the front carriage. The smallest person was standing behind the pile on the second carriage, holding onto the wooden railing.

They had gotten the horses up on the road and were now only twenty yards ahead of Abby. They were moving very slowly. So slowly that Abby figured she could catch up to them if she ran. She wondered if they had food.

Suddenly, the smallest person jumped of the back of the carriage and went down to the ditch to collect some flowers. The person looked up from a yellow flower and noticed Abby in the shadows of the tree. Abby smiled as the person waved to her. It seemed like Abby was welcome to join the flower-picking.

Abby immediately started running, trying hard to catch up. The person was walking along with the carriages but kept looking back to see if she caught up.

As Abby came closer she saw that the person was a little girl like herself. She had short blonde hair and a pointy nose.

"Hi", the girl said. "Look at this! Isn't it beautiful?"

Abby just nodded: she was a little out of breath.

"Do you like poppies?" the girl continued without waiting for an answer. " _I_ love them! They're so wonderful."

"I like them", Abby confirmed – a little hoarse from the lack of water.

"Oh! I saw these white flowers by the stream", the girl exclaimed. "You should check them out, they're great."

"There's a stream?" Abby asked as her throat felt more and more like sandpaper.

"Yes, right over behind that little hill, in between some trees."

The girl pointed from where they came from.

"Anne! Come on", the man from the second carriage shouted.

"Coming!" the girl shouted back, jumped up from the ditch and ran up to the carriage. With one great leap she was back up on it, holding onto the railing.

"Bye!" she yelled and waved to Abby.

"Bye!" Abby shouted back but it ended in a cough.

The carriages became smaller and smaller, but Abby stayed were she was, watching the girl disappear. Then she turned, crossed the road and walked towards the hill. She climbed over it and found that it continued downhill longer on that side and ended in a collection of trees. Abby wouldn't call it a forest: it was not enough trees. She stopped on the top of the hill and listened carefully. She shone up in a smile as she heard the low sound of running water. The sound took her back to when her parents had owned a very small farm and she'd been out in the nature every day.

She'd still been very young when they'd had to give up the land. On a similar carriage as the one with the blonde girl, the family of three had made their way into the city. Abby's father had sold the horse and the carriage and managed to get them a place to live. He'd gotten a job in a factory and worked long hours. Abby remembered that she rarely saw him at all and had to rise up early to be able to eat breakfast with him. Her mother had later gotten a job as a sewer. Abby had gone with her quite a few times and watched her work with the fabrics. She especially liked the dark ones. She remembered one piece of fabric in particular. It looked like the sky at night; almost completely black and it was wavy in the way of how Abby imagined the wind at night. The fabric had later turned into a dress.

That dress had come to life only days before everything changed. The day when Abby's mother had gone to the factory to bring Abby's father his lunch. No one walked out of that building alive that day. From that day and on, the only living creatures who entered and exited that building were the brave firemen. Bodies had been pulled out, been identified by loved ones, cried over and Abigail Scuito was standing forgotten on the street, staring into the great black mass that had cost her, her whole family.

Now, standing on top of a hill while listening after water, Abby could hear her father's voice telling her how the river is her best friend.

Abby carefully walked down to the trees and found the stream running loudly in between them. It was quite soothing actually. If she hadn't been so thirsty she would have stopped to listen as the water accompanied the birds in the song of nature. But thirst came first and in the matter of seconds had Abby practically dipped her whole head in the stream.

The water tasted of earth and nature. But it was certainly refreshing. Abby only came up for air after several deep gulps. She drank until she was full and then she laid down on the grass and drank the air. Smiling at the nice feeling in her stomach, she followed a butterfly with her eyes. But as the butterfly disappeared through the leaves, the hunger came back. Abby groaned but stood up.

She decided that it was probably a good idea to get back to the dusty road. She wasn't going to meet any farmers in the middle of nowhere.

As she walked up to the road again she realized that walking was very dull. As much as she loved watching the flowers and the small insects, it got boring quite fast. She wanted something to happen – anything. The thought had barely entered her mind before a low clapping noise reached her ears. She looked around searching for the source of the noise. It got louder and louder and soon she realized that whatever it was – it was behind her. Excitedly she turned around and a man was galloping her way. Well, the man wasn't galloping but the horse he was sitting on was. It was a beautiful horse; reddish with a brown mane and a long brown tail. Abby had a vague memory of her father's horse looking a bit like that.

She watched the man and horse come closer and closer. When they only were a short distance away Abby realized that the horse was slowing down. It was practically walking by now. Abby didn't move from her spot next to the road. She followed the horse's movements with her eyes. She didn't notice that the man was watching her as well, until he stopped the horse right next to her.

Slowly – like in a trance – Abby's eyes went from the horse to meet the man's gaze. The man smiled a half smile at the little girl's obvious staring. He swung his leg over the saddle and jumped down on the ground.

"Hey there", he said.

Abby just stared.

"What are you doing out here alone?" he tried.

When the girl still didn't react, he led the horse over the ditch onto the grass so that it could eat. Then he grabbed a package from his bag and went to sit down by the road. Abby was still standing completely still – frozen because she didn't know what to do. She still followed the man's movements with her eyes. He was unwrapping the package that appeared to contain a sandwich. Immediately she felt her mouth fill with saliva.

"Are you hungry?" the man asked casually.

Abby sucked in her breath. _Yes I am_. But the words didn't come out.

"Okay then", the man seemed to decide that she wasn't hungry. "If you're sure…"

Finally Abby nodded.

"You _are_ hungry?"

Abby nodded again.

"Here", the man reached out the sandwich to her.

Abby took the required step towards him and accepted it. It smelled of heaven and cheese. Like a wolf she dug into the soft bread and proceeded to fill her mouth to the point where she couldn't breathe.

"Take it easy", the man said. "Sit down and chew."

Abby sat down a few feet away from him and slowly began to process the food in her mouth. Half the sandwich was gone before she managed to slow down her eating enough to take a good look at the man. He had short, grey-ish hair and pale blue eyes. His face looked hard and cold but then he smiled and an instant softness entered his gaze and lines of laughter showed. He looked confident, like one of the sheriffs in town. He looked like he wasn't afraid of anything.

"Is it good?" the man asked her and nodded towards the little piece of sandwich left in her hands.

Abby nodded but then felt guilty. This was probably the man's lunch. And here she was eating it!

"My name is Jethro", the man said.

 _Jethro_. Abby frowned. That didn't suit him very well. He looked like a Jonathan or a Christian or something else brave.

"Jethro Gibbs", the man continued.

"Gibbs", Abby whispered into her last bite of sandwich. Yes, that was more suiting.

The pair stayed quiet for a moment while Abby ate the rest of the food. When she swallowed she smiled. She felt better than she'd done in a long time.

"Gibbs suits you better", she told the man.

"Really?" Gibbs laughed. "Well there you go. What's your name then?"

"Abby", Abby said. "Really it's Abigail but…"

"… Abby suits you better", Gibbs finished for her.

Abby smiled. She liked Gibbs. He was nice. And he'd given her food. For free!

"Do you want to tell me what you're doing out here alone?" Gibbs asked.

Abby frowned. Yeah, what was she doing? Oh, that's right!

"I'm going to get a job at a farm", she said. "Because I can work. Do you have a farm? I can work really hard!"

"What do your parents say about you getting a job?" Gibbs asked instead of answering.

"I don't know", Abby said and looked up in the sky. "Mom and dad had jobs before they died. They wouldn't mind."

"I see."

"The man in the grocery store told me that farmers are nicer than city-people and someone might give me a job so that I can have food", Abby explained. "And I'm good at working."

"Well, you're good at talking too", Gibbs said.

"Uhu", Abby nodded. "I can talk with my hands too."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"You talk to your hands? What do they reply?"

"No, not _to_ my hands, _with_ my hands", Abby spelled out her name using her hands to prove her point.

"You know sign language."

"Yes. See, I just spelled my name."

"That's really good", Gibbs complimented.

"Thank you", Abby said. "My mom was even better than me because she had done it her whole life. She couldn't hear, you see. So instead of talking and listening with her mouth and ears, she learned to sign and watch with her hands and eyes. And she taught me how to, also."

Gibbs nodded in understanding but frowned as well. _Abigail_. He had heard that name before. And those hand movements woke up some memory.

"What is your last name?" Gibbs asked the little girl.

"My name is Abigail Scuito", Abby replied. "But I like Abby better."

Gibbs closed his eyes painfully. He had an old friend. Mark Scuito. He married a deaf woman out of love and they had a little daughter together. Abigail. Gibbs sighed heavily as he realized that Mark and his lovely wife must have been dead for a while.

He looked at the girl besides him. She was skinny and pale, with Mark's dark hair and her mother's green eyes. She had scooted a little closer to him sometime during their conversation. What was he going to do with her? But he knew there was only one answer.

"Why don't you come with me?" he said and Abby looked up at him. "I live not that far from here."

"On a farm?" Abby asked peering up at him.

"Yes."

"Yes! I can work for you", Abby jumped up on her feet.

"I was thinking you could stay there while we find somewhere for you to go. You don't need to work."

"I don't?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"But I get to live with you anyway?" Abby asked.

Gibbs nodded.

"You sure?" Abby asked, frowning.

"I'm sure."

Gibbs rose to his feet.

"Are you good with that?" he asked.

Abby nodded. Gibbs smiled slightly and went to get the horse.

"This is Louie", Gibbs told Abby as he led the horse over to the road.

"He's cute", Abby said.

"My youngest daughter said the same thing", Gibbs said. "She was the one who named him."

"You have kids?" Abby asked trying to imagine what small Gibbses would look like.

"Two sons, two daughters", Gibbs answered. "They're about your age I would say. You'll meet them when we get there."

Abby nodded.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

Abby scrunched up her face trying to remember. She looked so unsure that Gibbs stopped her.

"It doesn't matter, it's not hard", he said. "You just need to hold onto me and not be scared."

"Okay", Abby said.

Gibbs grabbed the girl and lifted her up on the horse. Then he climbed up behind her and grabbed the reins.

"You ready?"

Abby nodded seriously.

"He was right", she said.

"Who?"

"The man in the shop that told me that farmers are nicer. He was right."

Gibbs grinned and they were off.


	3. The Big Red House

Chapter 3 – The Big Red House

Abby found that she liked horse riding. And also, it went so much faster than walking. It didn't take at all long before they stopped outside a red house. Bushes and flowers climbed the walls all the way up to the windows. The house lay in the middle of nowhere, like everything else. Abby could only make out a few other houses far away down the road. There were waves of fields surrounding them and some trees that rose from the ground towards the sky.

Gibbs jumped down on the ground and lifted Abby down as well. He then led Louie towards a gate in the fence that, in Abby's eyes, seemed to surround the whole world. Or at least a very big square of grass. The horse ran off.

"What if it starts to rain?" Abby wondered out loud. _Won't Louie get wet and cold?_

"Do you see that little house over there?" Gibbs pointed to another red building, half visible behind the big house. Abby nodded. "That's the barn. That's where Louie and the other horses sleep. And in the lower one that's connected to the barn, is where our sheep are."

"You have sheep as well?" Abby peered up at the man.

"Yes. And some cows and chickens. And of course Dave, who is a dog. There are also a bunch of cats here and there."

"Wow", Abby mumbled.

"Jethro!" a voice travelled to both Abby's and Gibbs' ears. Abby turned around to see a woman on the stairs to the big house. She had her red hair in a sloppy knot and the hem of her skirt and her boots were muddy, like she'd been working outside. As she walked down the stairs and came closer, Abby saw that she had blue eyes and a kind smile.

"Jethro, who's this?" she asked but smiled nonetheless at Abby.

"This is Abby Scuito", Gibbs said and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

The woman frowned, as if she vaguely recognized the name.

"She's Mark and Gloria Scuito's daughter", Gibbs continued.

"Oh", the woman nodded but still with a frown.

A silent moment went by before the frown on the woman's face creased.

"I'm Jenny", she then told Abby with that kind smile of hers.

"My wife", Gibbs added.

"Hi", Abby said as it was all she could think of.

"Why don't we go inside", Jenny said.

"Where are the kids?" Gibbs asked as he led Abby inside the red house.

"I sent Tony and Kate to the store and Ziva and Tim are outside feeding the chickens", Jenny said. "Are you hungry, Abby?"

Abby shook her head.

"No, Gibbs gave me his sandwich", she said.

"That's very kind of him", Jenny smiled. "But let's go into the kitchen and get you something to drink at least."

"Okay", Abby nodded.

She followed Jenny through the hall and came into a quite large room. There were cupboards, a stove and a table with lots of chairs around it. The walls were white and there were nice white and blue curtains around the windows.

"Sit down by the table and I'll get you a glass of water", Jenny said and Abby carefully pulled out a chair and climbed up on it.

Jenny came back with a tall glass of clear water and put it in front of her.

"Here you go. While you sit here and drink this, I'll talk to Gibbs just for a second outside."

Abby nodded and Jenny disappeared. Abby picked up the glass and took a sip. She looked to her right, out the window, and watched as Louie and another horse walked around the field, eating grass here and there.

Just outside the window was a path of gravel and beyond that was grass and a bit further up was the fence out to the horses. There were trees here and there in the garden and on the field. One of the taller trees in the garden had a swing hanging from one of its branches.

Abby could also make out the smaller red building – the barn – to the far right.

Suddenly the barn door opened and two people burst out, appearing to chase each other. The taller one was a girl with curly brown hair and the shorter was a blonde boy. Suddenly the boy tripped and the girl fell right over him. They landed in a laughing pile on the grass. After a moment they sat up and waved at someone Abby couldn't see from the window. But the people they waved to soon appeared around the corner and Abby saw that it was another boy and girl. This boy was taller then both the kids on the grass, who stood up ones the other ones got closer. He also had brown hair, and so did the girl that was with him. She was short with her hair in two braids. The two of them joined the other kids and Abby could see that they were talking but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She wasn't that good at lip-reading yet either.

"Abby", someone said and Abby turned her gaze from the window to Gibbs and Jenny who'd just walked back inside the kitchen.

"Yes?" Abby said dangling her feet back and forth under her chair.

"We'd like to talk to you for a minute", Jenny said. "Is that okay?"

Abby frowned but nodded. What did they want to talk about? Jenny and Gibbs took a seat opposite her.

"We wanted to ask you some questions", Jenny continued. "About you, if you don't mind?"

Abby shook her head. No, she didn't mind.

"Where do you live, Abby?" Jenny asked.

"In the city", Abby said.

"Where in the city?"

Abby shrugged. She usually walked around a lot.

"Where are your parents?"

Abby pointed up.

"They are in heaven", she said.

"When did they go to heaven?" Gibbs asked. "Do you remember that?"

Abby frowned, trying to think.

"Do you remember if it was winter or summer?" Gibbs asked to try and help her.

"The leaves were falling to the ground and they were red and yellow and orange", Abby said.

"Okay", Gibbs said and looked at his wife.

"What do you usually eat in the city?" Jenny asked.

"I get bread and sometimes fruit from the man in the shop", Abby replied. "If you wait until it gets dark he often has food left over."

"Alright, that was all our questions except one", Jenny said.

"Are you okay with staying here with us for a while?" Gibbs asked. "Like I told you about before?"

Abby nodded and grinned. She wanted to stay with Gibbs. And Jenny seemed really nice too.

"I'm glad", Jenny smiled. "I'm going to draw a bath for you and I'm sure I can find some of Kate's clothes that'll fit you pretty well. Come with me."

Abby jumped down from her chair and went with Jenny who led her up the stairs and through one of the three doors up there. The room was painted in a soft blue color. Opposite the door were two beds with a drawer in between them. Over the drawer was a window with white drapes. To the left of the door was a tall wardrobe and to the right was a very big box, almost the length of Abby if she were to lie down next to it. It was painted in blue with pink and white flowers and it was one of the most beautiful things Abby had seen.

"Jethro built that for the girls", Jenny said as she noticed how intensely Abby was looking at the casket.

"Gibbs built it?" Abby asked, very impressed.

"Yes. He has built almost every piece of furniture in this house."

"What's in it?" Abby asked curiously, still looking at the box.

"Why don't you take a peak", Jenny smiled as she looked through the drawer for clothes.

Abby crept up to it and carefully opened the lid. It was heavy but she managed. Inside were a bunch of things; three or four dolls, wooden animals, two stuffed teddy bears, some books and other colorful toys.

"Wow", Abby said.

She looked at all the things for a while longer before closing the lid again. She didn't want to touch the toys. They weren't hers; they were probably Gibbs' daughters'. But they were nice to look at.

"Abby, can you please hold your arms out for a second?" Jenny asked, frowning at a shirt she was holding.

Abby did as she asked and Jenny held up some pieces of clothing in front of her to see if they would fit in length.

"This will do", Jenny finally nodded and put a long-sleeved dress, stockings and a coat on one of the beds. "Let's go downstairs and I'll heat up a bath for you."

This time Jenny held out her hand for Abby to take and after a moment of contemplating, Abby took it. Abby peered up and saw a little smile on Jenny's lips. Together they walked down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Gibbs had disappeared and when Abby looked out the window she couldn't see the kids outside either.

While Jenny prepared the bath, Abby looked around a little. She stopped to look at the different photos on the walls. Two in particular caught her eye. The first was of Gibbs and Jenny and the four kids outside. They were all sitting on the stairs in front of the house with smiles on their faces. The second one was probably taken the same day because the kids were wearing the same clothes. This photo was only of the kids and they were standing in height order. Oldest to youngest. The oldest and tallest was the boy with spiky brown hair, next was the curly haired girl with dark eyes, then the other girl with straight brown hair and lighter eyes and at last the blonde boy with the blue eyes. They all looked nice, Abby decided.

"Abby, your bath is ready."

Jenny helped her get out of her clothes and into the tub. The water was warm and nice like a river after a particularly hot day, but even better. Once Abby was settled, Jenny took out a brush and started working through Abby's hair. She washed it and combed through it again. Then she handed Abby a bar of soap and a funny looking brush.

"Let's clean you up", she said.

Ten minutes later and Abby was clean and the water was cold. Jenny went over to a linen cupboard and picked out a towel that she wrapped Abby in. She pulled out a chair and sat the girl down. She then moved to put the dirty clothes away.

"Wait!" Abby called and reached for her cardigan.

From the pocket she picked up the small, blue, delicate flower that she had stepped on that morning. Jenny saw what it was and went to get a little glass of water to put it in.

"Thank you", Abby said.

"No problem", Jenny said. "I'll put these clothes away and go upstairs and get the ones we picked out."

The second later she returned with the clothes that she helped Abby get dressed in. They fitted her pretty well actually. Once they were done she emptied the tub and hung the damp towel over a chair.

Abby felt her eyelids grow heavier. Apparently Jenny noticed that because she said:

"I'll make some soup for you and then we'll put you in bed."

"Okay", Abby said in agreement.

She watched as Jenny got a large pot, filled it with water and put it on the stove. She cut up some potatoes and some other vegetables that Abby didn't know the name of and dropped them in together with salt and what looked like butter.

"Do you want to stir?" Jenny asked Abby immediately perked up and nodded enthusiastically. "Bring a chair over that you can stand on."

With not too much difficulty Abby managed to get the chair over to the stove and climbed up on it. She received a wooden spoon from Jenny and carefully started stirring.

"How do you know when it's done?" Abby asked curiously.

"It's done when the potatoes have become soft", Jenny said. "Poke a piece with the spoon… exactly… is it soft?"

Abby nodded.

"Good, then it's done."

Abby jumped down from the chair and carried it back to the table. She looked over at Jenny and watched her pour a couple of spoonful of soup into a bowl. Abby sat down at the table and Jenny placed the bowl in front of her.

"Thank you", Abby said as she remembered old Jenkins reminding her of her manners back in the city.

"You're welcome."

Jenny sat down opposite Abby as she ate. It was a good soup, Abby thought. Warm and nice. She finished the bowl in no time, but when Jenny asked if she wanted more, she said no because she was full. So Jenny took her upstairs and back into the room with the two beds and the beautiful box. She received a white nightgown, which she dressed into, and Jenny held up the blankets in one of the beds for her slip under. They laid heavy on her but she found it comforting.

"Goodnight, Abby", Jenny said. "Sleep well."

She left the room quietly but didn't close the door all the way, so there was still a sliver of light in the room. The bed was comfortable and the pillows soft and Abby was asleep mere minutes later.


	4. The Family

Chapter 4 – The Family

The first thing Abby noticed when she woke up was how she wasn't cold or stiff from sleeping on hard ground. The second thing was that the sun shone outside the window. The third was that two girls were standing by her bedside, looking at her.

They had been whispering but when Abby opened her eyes they stopped.

"Good morning", the shorter of the two said with a smile.

Abby sat up slowly, looking around the room. She was confused for a second, before she remembered Gibbs and the horse and Jenny and the big red house. She looked back at the girls.

"We didn't wake you did we?" the taller one said. "Dad told us to be as quiet as possible so you could sleep."

Abby shook her head.

"My name is Ziva", the tall one said.

"And I'm Kate", the smaller one piped up. "Dad said you're name is Abby."

Abby nodded, that was her name. She looked over to the other bed and saw that the blankets were kicked to the foot of it and two nightgowns were tossed on top. She glanced down at the bed she was sitting in.

"Is this one of yours bed?" she asked apprehensively.

"Yes, it's mine", Ziva said. "But it's fine that you used it, I shared with Kate."

Abby nodded, relived.

"We've already eaten but mom said there's breakfast for you in the kitchen", Ziva continued. "She put your clothes on the casket for you, so when you've gotten dressed we can go downstairs."

Abby nodded again, eagerly. She jumped down from the bed and went over to the beautiful box and found the long-sleeved dress and the stockings that she had worn briefly the last night, after her bath. Ziva and Kate waited patiently for her to get dressed and then Ziva lead the way out of the room and down the stairs. Kate grabbed Abby's hand and followed her sister.

Shouts and mutterings and splashing could be heard from the kitchen as well as a: "Boys! Stop fighting and finish up the dishes."

Inside the girls found Jenny and the two boys Abby had seen in the pictures and outside the window the day before. The boys were standing by the sink.

"Oh hello, Abby, you're up", Jenny said when she saw the girls enter. "And I see you've met Ziva and Kate."

Abby nodded.

"Well, then it's only these two left", Jenny gestured to the boys. "This is Tony and this is Timothy."

"Tim, mom", the smaller of the boys corrected.

"Yes, he prefers to go by Tim", Jenny grinned. "And this is Abby, guys."

"Hi", Abby said.

"Hello", Tim said and Tony smiled slightly at her.

"Now, you two are almost done", Jenny said and looked over the dishes the boys were doing. "So you can help Ziva and Kate clean up for the horses."

All four children groaned.

"Come on now, kids! The sooner you're done the sooner you are free to do whatever you want."

Kate sighed but disappeared out the door with Ziva. Tony and Tim followed not long after.

"Would you like some breakfast, Abby?" Jenny asked.

Abby nodded slowly and sat down at the table. Jenny brought her bread and cheese and a glass of milk. Gibbs walked in halfway through her sandwich.

"Good morning, Abby", he said and sat down opposite her.

"Hi Gibbs", Abby smiled.

"Do you mind coming with me to see a friend after you're done eating?"

Abby swallowed her bite. She didn't really want to leave this beautiful house, with the nice people and good food, but she liked Gibbs and she trusted him.

"Okay", she said. A friend of Gibbs' couldn't be too bad.

When she had finished eating and washed up she was asked by Jenny to take the coat she had put out on the casket for her. So she ran upstairs, took a second to admire the beautiful casket and grabbed the coat on it. Gibbs was waiting for her in by the front door when she got back downstairs.

"Are we going to ride on Louie?" Abby asked him as they stepped outside together.

"If you'd like", Gibbs said and Abby nodded.

But when they got to the fence she couldn't see Louie anywhere.

"Where is he?" she wondered quietly.

Gibbs didn't answer, but put two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. Immediately the horse came running from far away. Abby again followed him with her eyes as he came closer and closer.

Riding on him again was really fun. Abby enjoyed the feeling of the wind in her hair and the bumping up and down. She wouldn't have minded riding for a longer amount of time, but they were apparently not going very far. They soon arrived at a cluster of houses and buildings around a square. It looked a little like the city except much smaller. The square had a little podium and there were a couple of benches here and there. Otherwise it was quite bare.

Gibbs rode them over to one of the houses. He jumped down from the horse and helped Abby down on the ground as well. Then he tied Louie to the fence that ran around the porch of the house.

"Come on", Gibbs said and took Abby's hand.

They walked up the short stairs to the porch. Abby expected him to knock on the door, but Gibbs just opened it and walked right in.

Inside were rows and rows of small bottles and boxes standing on shelves around the walls. There was also a counter and Abby wondered if this maybe was a shop, because it looked a little like this in the grocery store back in the old town. Although there was no food on these shelves.

A boy stood behind the counter and was stacking tiny green bottles on the shelf behind him. He must have been much older than Abby; he was quite tall, but he was shorter and not at all as old as Gibbs.

"Good morning, mr Gibbs", the boy said nervously.

"Morning, Jimmy", Gibbs said. "Is Ducky in?"

"Yeah, he's in the back. You can go ahead."

Gibbs nodded and brought Abby along to a door in the back of the room. He didn't knock on this door either. They walked into a room with less bottles but there was still _one_ full stacked shelf. There were also a desk, a chest of drawers and a high, wide bench. A man with glasses was sitting by the desk. He seemed to be scribbling something on a paper that was already attached to a binder. He turned around when he heard them step inside.

"Jethro", he greeted with a smile. His eyes landed on Abby. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"This is Abby Scuito", Gibbs said. "Do you mind doing a check-up?"

Apparently the man didn't need any more explanation.

"Why of course", he said and patted on the high bench. "Would you please take a seat, miss Scuito?"

Abby looked up at Gibbs for confirmation. He nodded at her so she went over to the bench and climbed up on it.

"Thanks Ducky", Gibbs said as the other man brought out a funny looking pipe-thing with three ends.

"There's no problem", he said.

Abby looked at him curiously.

"Is your name really Ducky?" she asked.

The man chuckled.

"My name is Donald Mallard, but everyone calls me Ducky."

"My name is Abigail", Abby told him.

"Is that so? I find that to be a beautiful name."

"What's that?" Abby pointed at the pipe-thing.

"This is a stethoscope", Ducky said. "I use it to listen to your heart and your lungs to make sure that they are working properly."

Abby found that Ducky was very nice, although he did talk quite a lot. He explained what he was doing when he checked her health in different ways and asked a bunch of questions, but he also talked about a lot of other things. Abby barley understood most of them. After Ducky had declared that he was done with the check-up, Gibbs wanted to talk to him alone so he asked Abby to go out and talk to Jimmy.

Jimmy was still alone in the room when Abby stepped out and closed the door behind her. He looked up at her and smiled. She quietly walked up to him. He was stacking other boxes on the other side of the room this time. He looked down at her as she came closer and said:

"Hi, I'm Jimmy."

"I'm Abby."

Jimmy held out his hand for Abby to shake, which she did.

"What are you doing with Gibbs?" he asked her.

"He said I could stay with him", Abby replied. "And today he wanted me to meet Ducky."

Jimmy nodded like he understood.

"Is this a store?" Abby asked him, because he seemed nice enough so she wasn't scared to talk to him.

"Yes, it's a kind of store. It's called a pharmacy. We sell medicine and things that people need when they're sick or hurt."

"All of these are medicine?" Abby asked and looked around the many shelves of bottles.

Jimmy nodded.

"Yeah, they're for all kinds of different sicknesses. I work here because I want to be a doctor, like Ducky."

"Oh."

"Do you want to help me put these boxes on this shelf?" Jimmy asked and gestured to a shelf low enough for Abby to reach just fine.

"Okay", Abby said.

Jimmy showed her how to put the boxes, which were small enough for one to fit in Abby's palm, in rows with their labels facing out.

"So that people can read what it is", he explained.

Abby, who didn't know how to read, simply did what he said. They stacked boxes in silence for a while, before Gibbs and Ducky returned from the back room.

"Ah, thank you mr Palmer", Ducky said. "When you are done with this would you run down to mrs Welling's with her new prescription for me?"

"Certainly", Jimmy said and hastily put the last couple of boxes on the shelf.

He disappeared behind the counter and emerged a second later with a brown paper bag. He nodded goodbyes to the people in the room and hurried outside.

"He is a good apprentice", Ducky commented as the door shut close behind Jimmy. "Eager. A little too eager sometimes, may I say."

"Ducky says you're well and healthy", Gibbs bent down to Abby. "Which is really good. Do you feel good?"

Abby thought about it.

"Yeah", she said in the end. "I feel good."

Gibbs smiled slightly at her.

"Well then", he said and stood up straight again. "Let's go back home."

Abby nodded eagerly. She didn't mind this strange place with the bottles and boxes, but she had really taken to the big red house.

Gibbs thanked Ducky ones more on the way out.

"It was very nice meeting you, Abigail", Ducky said and held up the door for them. "I hope I will see you soon again."

Abby grinned at him as Gibbs lifted her up on Louie and when they were off, she waved. It was a short wave, however, since Abby had to hold on with both hands when Louie started sprinting. She didn't think Gibbs would let her fall, but if he wasn't there it would have been difficult for her to stay on. She wondered if Gibbs' kids knew how to ride by themselves. Tim and Kate weren't that much bigger than her, they would probably also have a hard time riding a horse.

But what did Abby know; those four kids had grown up with horses, so they might know how to ride. This was only Abby's third time on one. That she could remember, at least.

She noticed two other horses behind the fence, when she and Gibbs arrived back at the red house. One was dark brown and the other was almost white. They were pretty, but she still liked Louie the best.

Jenny was waiting for them inside the house.

"The kids are playing outside", she said. "Why don't you join them, Abby?"

Abby nodded uncertainly. She didn't know those kids. But they seemed nice enough and she had talked a little bit with Ziva and Kate this morning. So she walked outside again and peered around the corner of the house. The four kids were all there, around the large tree with the swing. Ziva was sitting with dangling legs on the swing while Tim was on the ground, leaning against the trunk. Kate was standing next to him, watching Tony climb higher up the tree. Abby walked up to them slowly and carefully. About halfway down the gravel path Tim looked up and noticed her.

"Hi Abby", he said.

The others also realized that she was there and smiled or waved at her. Abby smiled shyly back as she joined them.

"Where did you go after breakfast?" Kate asked her.

"To see Ducky", Abby replied.

"Oh, really?"

"He's nice isn't he?" Tim said and patted on the ground next to him as an indication for her to sit down.

"Yes, I liked him", Abby said and sat next to him.

"Everyone does", Ziva said.

"Is your name really Abby?" a voice travelled down from above them. Tony had climbed down a bit and was clinging on to a branch not that high from the ground.

"Yes", Abby replied. "It's actually Abigail but I like Abby better."

"We also have longer names, really", Tony told her. "I'm Anthony, Kate is Caitlin and Tim is Timothy."

"But not Ziva?" Abby asked.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because mom and dad didn't name me", Ziva explained.

"She came here on a boat when she was a baby", Kate said. "But she already had a name at that point."

"Oh."

"Do you want to play?" Kate asked. "Can't we play catch?"

"Sure", Tony shrugged and jumped down from the tree. Tim nodded and stood up and Abby followed.

"What's catch?" she asked.

"One person is 'it'…" Tim began to explain.

"Ziva's it!" Tony said.

"Oh come on!"

"… and that person has to catch someone else so they be 'it'", Tim continued. "Get it?"

"No…"

"You just run and avoid being caught by Ziva", Tony said. "And if Ziva catches someone, that person is 'it' and you have to avoid that person instead. You don't want to be 'it'. Understand now?"

Abby nodded. Suddenly Ziva started counting loudly.

"Run!" Tim hissed in Abby's ear.

The two of them started running across the lawn just as Ziva got to 'three' and sprung up from the swing. She started chasing Tony, but changed courses and went towards Kate instead. Kate was considerably slower that both Tony and Ziva so Ziva caught up to her and shoved her lightly on the shoulder.

"Kate's it!" she yelled and started running the opposite direction.

Abby didn't really have to understand the game to have fun. She couldn't remember when she'd last laughed this much. The funniest was probably when Tim tripped into Tony and both of them crashed to the ground.

Abby was only 'it' for a couple of times. She thought that the others probably tried to be nice to her and didn't chase her as much as each other. And when she was 'it' the first time, Tony was suddenly a lot slower than usual and she caught him pretty quickly.

"Kids, lunch!"

Abby looked towards the house and saw Jenny on the porch, calling for them.

"Come on", Ziva said and they all started walking inside.

When Abby followed them she caught glance of a third building behind the big red house. She skipped up to Kate.

"What's that?" she asked and pointed to it.

"That's dad's shed", Kate said. "That's where he builds everything. We aren't allowed to go in there when he's not with us because he has a lot of sharp tools in there."

Abby nodded, as she understood. She was very curious to see it, though. Gibbs probably built the beautiful casket in there.

After lunch Tim showed her the chickens and he pointed out little white fluffy things, which apparently were sheep, far out on the field. He told her that they were out there all day and then someone had to bring them inside the lower attachment of the barn at night.

"What are the other horses called?" Abby asked him when they walked past the fence. The darkest one was eating grass not far from them on the other side.

"This is Aidan", Tim said and bent down to rip some long grass leaves from the ground. He climbed up on the lowest bar of the fence and held out the treat for the horse. After a little bit of whistling from Tim, Aidan came right up to him and snatched the grass from his hand. This gave Tim an opportunity to pet his head.

When Aidan finished chewing, he got bored and turned away. Tim jumped back down again.

"The one you rode on is Louie, but you probably knew that", Tim continued and Abby nodded. "And the white one is Scottie."

"They're very pretty", Abby said.

Tim nodded in agreement.

"Do you know how to ride them?" Abby asked.

"Yes, but mom and dad don't let us ride alone yet. They think we're too young."

"Okay."

"Do you want to see the cats and the dog?" Tim asked.

"Yes!" Abby said excitedly.

"Dave seems to have slept in the barn all morning", Tim said and lead the way to the building. "He was up chasing rabbits around the field all night."

"Why?"

"I don't know", Tim shrugged. "He seems to think it's fun."

They pushed the barn door open. It was a bit darker in there and it smelled funny.

"The horses sleep over here", Tim pointed to their direct left. "And the cows over there", he pointed farther down but still on the left side.

"What's this?" Abby asked and looked at the big pile of dry grass-things.

"It's hay. Sometimes, if the pile is big enough, we climb up on that ladder and jump down in it from the beams in the ceiling. It's really fun. And look, there's Dave!"

A big black dog came lumbering towards them. He went straight to Tim and started licking his face.

"Okay, alright, buddy", Tim tried to stop him as Abby giggled. "Say hi to Abby, Dave."

He gently shoved the dog in Abby's direction and Dave instantly came to greet her.

"You can pet him", Tim said as Dave sniffed Abby's hands.

Carefully Abby put one hand on the dog's back and stroked him. He was soft and warm and seemed to enjoy it, so she continued.

"He's very nice even though he's so big", Tim said. "He plays with us a lot."

"But doesn't he chase the cats?" Abby asked, because didn't dogs do that?

"Not often", Tim said. "They mostly just keep away from each other. Do you want to see if we can find any of the cats?"

"Alright. How many are there?"

"Four. They are usually somewhere here in the barn or in the house."

It took them five minutes to locate one of the cats. It was little and brown and very cute. Tim told her that it was a boy and his name was Otis. They sat on the ground and played with him and then another cat showed up.

"Her name is Leila", Tim said.

Leila seemed to take a fast liking to Abby and curled up in her lap and made a funny noise when Abby petted her.

That night when Abby got ready for bed she couldn't help but smile. She had a warm feeling in her stomach and although she was sleepy she felt like she wanted to jump around. Gibbs and Jenny were so nice to her and she'd had a great time with Tim, Ziva, Tony and Kate. And there were horses and kittens and good food and warm blankets. Deep inside, Abby hoped she wouldn't have to leave. She wished she could stay here, in the big red house, forever.

* * *

 **I think I'm going to end it here. But I'm thinking about writing a sequel. What do you think?**


	5. AN

**Author's Note:**

 **Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I've now started a sequel to this story. It's called "Us" and you can find it under my stories. I hope you like it!**


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